Unspoken
by tocks
Summary: Some things aren’t better let unsaid. [Skate. One shot.]


**Title:** Unspoken

**Setting: **Born To Run, so spoilers for the episode (and Confidence Man and Exodus I) are fair game. This is a missing scene of sorts, set a few hours after Kate and Sawyer's campfire chat. Yay.

**Disclaimer: **I like cheese. Yes I do. Except when the cheese is blue. ... Oh. Hello! Are you here to sue me for using characters I just think belong to me? No? Okay! Have some cheese, then :)

**Author's musings: **First off I want to send a big round of thanks to everyone who reviewed my first Lost publication! It made me all warm and fuzzy getting review alerts in the mail (as well as reading personal e-mails from other Lost fans and even seeing my story on a Favorites List or two!) I hadn't realized how much I missed writing for this site, and now that I got a taste of it again, I might be on a roll. At least for a while :D

So thanks, guys, and keep it up! I hope I don't disappoint :)

Anyway, back to this. I spent the weekend watching my season 1 DVDs and I realized two things; a) Sawyer looks incredibly good in Born To Run (and in Solitary, though he's good at looking damn fine in most episodes,) and b) that there was a lot more then "good-bye" left unsaid between him and Kate in this and the following episode.

I figured I could do something about b, even if I'd rather be doing something about a. Sigh.

---

She should have gone straight to bed after her talk with Sun, but something the other woman said that evening had stuck with her.

It was about how as children they'd both figured when they found love, everything else would be set in its place. Kate hardly believed in love anymore, let along the concept that it can overcome all, but now she found herself standing in front of Sawyer's tent, unsure why she was there but unwilling to leave them with the subtle but existent hostility they'd last parted with.

She almost reached forward to knock, but collected herself before she attempted such a daft action against the hard fabric that served as a constructed shelter. Next, she let her mouth open, attempting to construct a word of greeting, but that too failed her. Inhaling sharply, she finally reached for the flap of the tent and decided to get it over with.

"Sorry, no one home."

Suppressing a grin – she should have known he'd sneak up on her as he always tended to (and she realized with a cringe that she would miss that when he left) – Kate let her hand drop and she turned around.

"Soon there won't be."

She replied, her voice slightly wistful. Sawyer didn't spare her a look. Instead, he breezed by her and into the tent.

"If you're shoppin' for a brand new love shack for you and the doc, you can forget it, sweet cheeks."

Kate smiled as she invited herself into the tent and stood watching Sawyer shuffling around in a busied but completely orchestrated search of something. She knew with a sudden tinge of sadness that he was avoiding her. Was it guilt? Or something more...

"Jack's not going to leave the caves."

She finally spoke, trying to keep her voice neutral. Sawyer peered back at her and smirked.

"Ah, so I take it you'll be joinin' him when I set off into the sunset? Finally play the Eve to his Adam."

Now they were falling back into their usual, playful banter. Kate folded her hands across her chest and shot him a harmless glare, going along willingly.

"I haven't stayed at the beach all this time because of you, Sawyer."

He almost gasped in false shock, but he managed to control himself. Bringing a hand to his heart, he stared at her a full second before talking.

"Hey! Words can hurt, ya know?"

He'd never made a habit of thinking before speaking, but the look that passed Kate's face right then almost made him wish he had.

"I know."

Silence ensued. A gust of wind bore down against the side of the tent, and Kate's mind drifted to the raft launching again. What if a storm hit them while they were out at sea? Would they be able to survive it?

The crashing sound of the waves outside seemed to magnify in volume. Kate began mentally counting the waves as stood thinking. Before long, she realized she was talking again.

"You said there was nothing on the island worth staying for."

It wasn't a question, but Sawyer felt compelled to answer.

"Yeah, well. That's the truth, now ain't it?"

He regarded Kate thoughtfully. She seemed to have more to say, but apparently she couldn't bring herself to form the words. Sawyer sighed and decided to give it one last shot. He had nothing left to lose at this point.

"Why? Didja come here to prove me wrong, Freckles?"

She looked up sadly but said nothing. Sawyer took a step toward her, and he was suddenly dangerously close. His left hand came up and for a second Kate had the absurd notion that he was going to hit her, so she closed her eyes in preparation for the contact. Instead, he mindlessly twirled a stray lock of her hair around his finger, gazing at her expectantly.

She felt the heat flowing off his body; felt his breath against her neck as he spoke again when she refused to.

"I didn't think so."

Swallowing hard as she took in the significance of those words – the very words he'd spoke after first asking for the kiss she'd later give him, when she'd been forced to read the letter which she thought, at the time, was written to him – Kate visibly flinched. Opening her eyes, she didn't dare meet his. If she did, she knew she'd crack.

She stepped back to add some distance between them. It was the only thing she could bring herself to do.

"I'm sorry."

She wasn't sure what for exactly, but Sawyer merely nodded, dropping the hand that was left hanging in midair.

"Yeah, me too."

Kate returned the nod, wrapping her arms around herself again as she took another step back.

"It's late. You have a big day ahead of you."

Small talk was safe. And they had been edging on dangerous territory.

"I guess I do."

It was a lie. The raft was set. All he had to do now was hop aboard it and hope it floated. And no one would be left behind to miss him either way. Well, almost no one.

"You all packed up?"

He nodded his head, snapping out of his thoughts but not looking at her. She followed his gaze to a backpack that sat propped by the entrance. Her eyes found his again.

"I travel light."

Sawyer answered her unasked question, casting her an almost goofy grin. She felt like smiling back but she was too tired to.

They shared a long, meaningful look, words they both wanted to say drifting back and forth between the air that separated them.

"Okay, well. I'll see you in the morning."

He nodded, allowing her a clean escape for once. He figured he owned her that much.

She swallowed again before taking a final step out of his tent.

"Good night."

And just like that, she walked away.

Sawyer ran a hand across his forehead, sighing deeply before reaching for his stolen copy of _Watership Down_. Despite the fact he'd already read the book, twice, sleep was out of the question.

Now, had he known that tomorrow he wouldn't get to say a proper good-bye, he would never have let Kate leave his tent that night.

---

End.


End file.
